I'm Mike: I've been a skinny "excuses" guy; I've decided to do something for myself

[Squeakyguy]

Welcome to my training log.

I started barbell strength training using Stronglifts 5x5 as a template on November 5, 2012. Here are my stats from that time.

Age: 23
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 186
BF: skinny. I'm pretty sure I've never had > 10% BF my whole life.

Short bit about what brought me to post here: I decided to start strength training after reading in a Healthy Lifestyle thread on another forum (a video game forum, as it were). I asked someone what a good starting program might be, I just wanted to be more functional and healthy, less sedentary, and someone mentioned Stronglifts. I liked Mehdi's fuck bodybuilding approach: I've wasted my time with no results doing sets of bicep curls in the past. I started with an empty bar on all my lifts, been doing the 5lb increases every workout, got a bit of results, but not all the information I wanted. More Googling led me to this website. I've been gobbling up video and article and Q+A in order to improve my form and satisfy my knowledge. My brother (a physical therapist) even noticed my enthusiasm for the knowledge and lent me his undergrad-level physiology textbook. I asked my parents for SS book for Christmas, and after I read the chapter on power cleans, that's when I'll switch the program over from Stronglifts full time.

I guess what this all comes down to is I've been a skinny guy all my life, and I've had all the excuses for why I couldn't get strong: genetics, not worth my time, I'm not so vain. All those excuses hid the truth of the matter, that I was a future obese asshole, running his mouth about things I didn't know about and was too ignorant to try and learn.

Thanks for reading, I wanna put up my training journal backlog in the next post because my spiral bound notebook has perforated pages and I'd like to preserve it (for nostalgia's sake)

[Squeakyguy]

Training Backlog(all loads in lbs.)

Guesses of approximate 1RM (based on limited gym experience during undergrad, I actually wrote these figures down, what a clown I was even just 6 weeks ago)
Bench: 135
Squat: 115
Press: 65
Deadlift: 95

11/5 workout (week 1):
Squat 45@5x5
Bench 45@5x5
Row 65@5x5

11/7 workout:
Squat 50@5x5 (Here I wrote down form notes: feet closer together and toes pointed less out. This was bad advice I was giving myself for no reason. Felt inflexible)
Press 45@5x5 (Form: elbows forward, tight grip, abs clenched, "Rocky" pose or "Steve Holt!" pose at the top)
Deadlift 95@1x5 (My form notes here are less funny, because I still have no fucking clue how to properly deadlift)

11/9 workout:
Squat 55@5x5
Bench 55@5x5
Row 50@5x5 (oops, returned to the gym and did 70@5x5)

11/12 workout (week 2):
Squat 60@5x5 (balance, flexibility, form)
Press 50@5x5
Dead 105@1x5

11/14 workout:
Squat 65@5x5
Bench 65@5x5
Rows 75@5x5

11/16 workout:
Squat 70@5x5
Press 55@5x5
Dead 115 @1x5

11/19 workout(week 3):
Squat 75@ 5x5
Bench 75@ 5x5
Rows 80@5x5

11/21 workout:
Squat 80@5x5
Press 60@5x5
Dead 125@1x5

weigh-in: 192 lbs.

11/23 workout:
Squat 85@ 5x5
Bench 85@5x5
Row 85@5x5

11/26 workout(week 4):
Squat 90@5x5
Press 65@5x5
Dead 135@1x5

11/28 workout:
Squat 95@5x5
Bench 95@5x5
Row 95@5x5

11/30 workout:
Squat 100@5x5
Press 70@5x5
Dead 145@1x5

12/3 workout(week 5):
Squat 105@5x5
Bench 105@5x5
Row 105@5x5

weigh-in: 193 lbs. (I was upset with this weigh-in, but I knew deep down that I hadn't been eating big)

12/5 workout:
Squat 110 @5x5
Press 75@ 5x5
Dead 155 @ 1x5

12/7 workout:
Squat 115 @ 5x5
Bench 115@5x5
Row 115@5x5

12/10 workout(week 6):
Squat 120@5x5
Press 80@5x5
Dead 165@1x5

I didn't eat all day today- played fucking video games all fucking day. Feels like shit in workout

12/12
Had a holiday party at work and wound up going wild in DC. Crashed at my friends apt, having missed my first scheduled workout.

12/14 workout:
Squat 125@5x5 (squats are tough, unsure about low bar and balance)
Bench 120@5x5
Row 120@5x5
Would have stopped here, but I missed a workout and it ticked me off. I'm better than that, and combined with Monday's eating debacle, I moved onto the press
Press 85@5x5
Dead 175@1x5 (grip strength here was tough, I tried doing one more rep after a short rest and holding the bar in the upright position for as long as I could)

At this point, I started looking more seriously into the squat form. The active hip article helped me to sort out my high-bar/low-bar squat problems. Turns out I was putting the bar lower, like I should, but not tilting forward enough to compensate. Thus my weight was over my heels and I'd fall back. I watched the squat bar placement video, and putting the grip, bar placement, and active hip (feet pointed out, cue "knees out!") pieces together, I'm now squatting way lower (I thought wasn't flexible enough to hit parallel, now I go below every time), with no lower back rounding, plenty of explosion at the bottom, and my stance is solid as shit. No more rocking back and forth for me.

Workout 12/17(week 7):
Squat 45x5x2, 95x3, 135x5x5
Bench 45x5x2, 95x3, 125x5x5
Row 95x5, 125x5x5
felt real good (quite proud of myself for the improvements in squat form after this workout)

Weigh-in @ 197 lbs. Even though this represented 11 lbs. gained in just over 6 weeks, I was still disappointed. I think you all know why. While in October, I never thought I'd be starting to lift weights, never thought I'd approach 200 lbs., thought it was impossible for someone with my genetics to gain weight, once I learned the truth, I got poisoned. I know deep that I hadn't been eating as big as I could, I was sleeping too little and drinking too much. That night (this Monday), I went home and pounded down a protein shake, two chicken breasts, a can of black beans, and about 1/3 gallon of milk.

Workout 12/19 (today):

Squat 45x5x2, 95x3x2, 140x5x5
My form still feels really nice, I'd been looking down to assist with keeping the bar over the middle of the feet (I guess to make sure my weight wasn't on my toes or heels, kinesthetic sense isn't there quite yet), I've tried to bring my chin back up to make sure my chest is puffed and blocked nicely

Press 45x5, 65x3, 85x3, 90x5x5
I went pretty quickly from my warm ups into my work set. I incorporated the hip thrust from Press 2.0. The first set, I was unsure of my ability to hit all 5x5, so I took a long rest between sets 1 and 2. It really helped, and while my hip thrust isn't perfect, the ones that I do well the bar popped up really nice. My goal is to get to 100 without stalling. After reading Rip's t-nation article about the press, I'm really inspired to try and keep this exercise as a main focus. A far off dream of mine is to do a clean and press of my own bodyweight.

Dead 95x5x1, 135x3x1, 185x5x1
First warmup set was stupid. With the 25s on the end, the bar was too low for me to make any sense of the movement. The next warmup set, I really tried to practice the form. Bar over the middle of the foot. Bend over to touch the bar without moving it. Drop the hips till my shins touch the bar. Lift trying to keep the bar on my shins. Felt more efficient and vertical. I need the fuckin book before the weight gets heavy. Work set wasn't doggin' my grip strength as much, but I forgot to hold the last rep at the top. Oh well.

[cutlet#]

Welcome, congratulations on your decision to start strength training, and good luck!

Post form checks, read the book once you get it, and start mentally preparing yourself for the fact that you're in for very hard, yet very rewarding work. You'll do great if you're willing to work hard and work smart. Now drink some milk and go to bed!

[Gene61]

I also started with StrongLifts, then found SS. You will find that Rip has an order of magnitude more knowledge and experience than Mehdi.

When you read the book you will find that 5x5 will cause you to stall too soon as it is a lot of volume (too much) once you get to heavier weights. 3 sets of 5 are enough.

Congratulations on finding Starting Strength. It's a great program. I look forward to following you progress.

[Squeakyguy]

Thanks for the encouragement, folks. I welcome the suggestions and conversation. Form checks are going up next week, but I'll probably grab the book from my parents this weekend if it has already come in.

Workout 12/21:

Warm-up: 1km on row machine

Squat 45x3x2 95x5 135x5 145x5x5
Squats were a little shaky today. Weight went up fine, but sometimes I workout with my physical therapist brother, and he makes it really easy to find the spine of the scapula while I'm setting up, but today I was alone. I focused on finding the right spot on my shoulders, and I noticed my right shoulder is much more flexible than my left. Perhaps it developed that way from years as a pitcher. At any rate, I am focusing on keeping my shoulders square with the bar, and both of my elbows equally bent and pushed back to develop that left shoulder flexibility.

Bench press 45x5x2 95x5 130x5x5
Unsure about how wide a grip to take. Can't wait to read the book. First set was kinda tough, so I set my grip less wide, and the rest were easier. Good work weight.

Barbell Row 130x5x5
Yes, I know the bent-over barbell row is no substitute for the power clean. I've been working this exercise since before I had heard of Rip or Starting Strength, so I'm dropping it the moment I get the book and can teach myself power cleans in the folks' basement gym this weekend. I'm gonna miss the bicep work though lol. (Not really, folks)

Weigh-in @ 200.5 lbs.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!! I'm not a man until I'm 200 lbs., and while my 6'4" frame made it much easier for me than for other guys, it still feels awesome. I'm starting to learn though, that nobody else in my life gives a shit about what I'm doing, which is all fine and good, but I've always liked sharing my enthusiasm. I've been eating huge to try and reach this goal, next stop: 215. Seriously though, last night, I ate 2 of the biggest Chipotle burritos I'd ever layed eyes on, and half gallon of milk between 7pm and bed at 11. Been eating huge all week.

Plan for next week: Fully transition into Starting Strength. That is, 3x5 worksets, power cleans and chins (or pullups, I'll read more and figure it out), and slightly bigger weight than what I've been doing. I could probably do heavier worksets on the squats but I've been following Medhi's 5lbs. per workout increase starting from empty bar. I'll probably just jump 10lbs. and see how it feels, and just try to work up to a more appropriate work weight.

[Squeakyguy]

Workout 12/24

Warm-up: 1km on row machine. I've never really done much in the way of warm-ups before. Rowing just seems to get all the body involved and the heart pumping. Any other ideas for warming up?

Squat 45x5 95x4 135x5 155x5x2 165x5x3
I finally got SS:BBT3, so last night I went through the section on training the squat. I haven't finished the chapter, but even the barless practice squats were helping me develop a complete approach to the movement. Excellent resource, that book. I'm transitioning to 3 sets of 5 reps, so as an intermediate, I did 2 sets at 155 and 3 sets at a slightly higher work weight of 165. I think I felt my hamstrings for the first time on these squats. My shoulders are differently flexible (probably from pitching right handed, so that one's more flexible), and there was a section in the squat chapter about different width grip on each side to balance the load squarely across my back. I followed the advice, but will work on bringing my hands to the same width, thus improving shoulder flexibility.

Press 45x5 65x5 85x3 95x5x5
I'm going to need to micro-load soon, maybe after 100lbs this Friday, but for now the weight went up. The 5th set seemed easier than my 4th, I'm giving myself plenty of rest between sets, but the reps are shaky, the bar is going fairly slow on the 4th and 5th reps. I'm hitting lockout though, so that's all that matters. It seems the bar goes up faster when I squeeze the bar hard and don't dilly dally between reps. Fave exercise, doing the bar with 25s on each end, nice nice.

Deadlift 135x5 205x5x1
Another 20lb. jump. Perhaps this was too big a gap between warm-up and worksets, so next time I'll probably progress from 135-185-215. My second rep I don't think I kept my lower back tight, and while no injury occurred on that rep, I felt it kinesthetically, so I focused on keeping my lumbar freakin' tight on the remaining reps. I held the last rep at the top for 10 seconds or so to hit my grip. Don't know if this works. I'm sure the deadlift chapter will cover grip strength, so I'll work through that before my next deadlift workout.

[Brodie Butland]

Welcome from another ex-skinny guy.

Something that might help you in the future--cut down on your warmup reps so you'll have plenty left in the tank for the real deal. For example, if you're squatting a 150 workset, try 45x5, 75x5, 100x3, 125x2, and then 150 for worksets. It'll help stave off fatigue.

[Squeakyguy]

Thanks for the tip. At these generally light work weights (so far), I've gotten away with just absent-mindedly doing 5 warm up reps for each set, because I do 5s. Do you plan your warm-up sets? I think that might give me the discipline to do only 2-3 reps for the heavier sets.

[driveclimbslide]

I'm a huge fan of rowing to warm up. An airdyne or light kettlebell swings work for me as well. Keep up the good work. I generally use a 5,5,4,3,2 model for warm up sets just so you have an example.

[Brodie Butland]

Thanks for the tip. At these generally light work weights (so far), I've gotten away with just absent-mindedly doing 5 warm up reps for each set, because I do 5s. Do you plan your warm-up sets? I think that might give me the discipline to do only 2-3 reps for the heavier sets.

My rule if thumb for a heavy 5 reps x 3 workset day is to do no more than 5 warm up sets before the work sets, and to taper down the reps in a 5,5,4,3,2 fashion. But I don't follow a strict calculation of the percentage for each rep--just make comfortable jumps.